Sentence Correction Flashcards
Every sentence must contain the following 2 things..
Every sentence must contain a subject and verb, and they must make logical sense together and agree in number (singular / plural)
Define a fragment sentence
An incomplete sentence missing a subject or verb
Define a main clause
A main clause is a clause that can stand alone as a sentence as is, with its own subject and verb
Define subordinators and subordinate clauses
Subordinators turn clauses that they are attached to into Subordinate Clauses. They are connecting words that create subordinate clauses which can in turn attach to a main clause with a comma (although, after, if, though, because, since, unless, while, before, when, that)
Subordinate clauses cannot stand alone (ex. Because - “Because the dog was never mine” is a subordinate clause that we could fix by attaching to a main clause or dropping the subordinator)
Identify the subject “The discovery of new medicines was vital to the company’s growth.”
Discovery, not new medicines, is the correct subject.
Be sure to identify the correct subject and verb as the GMAT tries to disguise the subject
Can a noun in a prepositional phrase be the subject?
No
What should we eliminate when we are looking for the correct subject?
Eliminate the “middlemen” such as:
1) Prepositional Phrase - modify or describe other parts of the sentence
2) Subordinate Clauses - cannot stand alone
3) Other Modifiers - modify or describe other portions of the sentence
- Present Participles (-ing forms derived from verbs)
- Past Participles (-ed and -en forms derived from verbs)
How can we form a compound plural subject?
“And” can unite two or more singular objects forming a compound plural subject
Define an additive phrase and do they differ from “and”
An additive phrase is words and phrases that act like “and” and add to the subject
Ex. including, along with, in addition to, as well as, accompanied by, together with
However, only “and” can chance a singular subject into a plural one
Singular subjects following by an additive phrase are still singular subjects (ex. Joe, as well as his friends, IS going to the beach)
What is the purpose of “or”, “either … or”, “neither… nor”
The phrases “or”, “either … or”, “neither… nor” can link two nouns
Sometimes one is singular and one is plural
The verb should agree agree with the nearest noun
(ex. Neither the coach nor the PLAYERS ARE going to the beach)
(ex. Neither the players nor the COACH IS going to the beach)
If “either” or “neither” appear alone (without “or” or “nor”) they are considered singular and only take singular verbs
Define collective nouns
Collective nouns are almost always a singular noun that refers to a group of people or objects
ex. agency, class, team, equipment, furniture
Define indefinite pronouns
Indefinite pronouns are not specific to the thing to which they refer. They are:
- Any pronoun that ends in -one, -body, or -thing
- Usually singular and require singular verb forms
ex. anyone, anybody, anything
ex. no one, nobody, nothing
ex. each, every (as pronouns)
ex. everyone, everybody, everything
ex. someone, somebody, something
ex. either, neither (may require plural verb if paired with or/neither)
ex. whatever, whoever
“Each” and “every” require singular verbs as the subject of the sentence
(ex. EVERY dog and cat HAS paws)
If “each follows the subject, then it does not determine the verb form
(ex. THEY each ARE great tennis players.)
What are the 5 indefinite pronouns that can be either singular or plural depending on the context of a sentence
SANAM Pronouns
Some Any None All More / Most
ex. SOME of the MONEY WAS stolen
ex. SOME of the DOCUMENTS WERE stolen
**Not one is always singular
What is true about idiomatic expressions that designate quantities or parts?
In idiomatic expressions that designate quantities or parts, the subject of the sentence is in an of-prepositional phrase
They are the exception to the rule that the subject cannot be in a prepositional phrase (ex. “a number of” and “half of”)
(ex. HALF OF the PIE IS blueberry, and HALF OF the SLICES ARE already gone.)
Majority, minority and plurality are singular or plural depending on the context
Are subject phrases and clauses always singular or plural?
Subject phrases and clauses are always singular
subject in singular phrase ex. “Having good friends IS a wonderful thing.”
subject in clause ex. “Whatever they want to do IS fine with me.”
What is the Flip It Tip?
In most sentences, the subject precedes the verb, but the GMAT can try to trick you by having it the other way around.
If confused, flip the order so that the subject precedes the verb
WRONG: There IS a young man and an older woman at the bus stop.
FLIP IT: A young man and older woman IS at the bus stop. (by flipping it, we can see that the verb should be plural, not singular)
RIGHT: There ARE a young man and older woman at the bus stop.
What is parallelism?
Parallelism states that comparable sentence parts must be structurally and logically similar
Common parallel markers indicate a need for the sentence to be parallel: X and Z Bother X and Z X or Z Either X or Z Not X but Z Not only X but also Z X rather than Z From X to Z
Almost anything in a sentence can be made parallel including nouns, adjectives, verbs, infinitives, participles, prepositional phrases, and subordinate clauses
Note that certain idioms require parallelism as a result of their structure
What is a linking verb?
Linking verbs express what the subject is or what condition the subject is in (instead of expressing what it does)
ex. To be (other forms of “to be”: is, are, was, were, am, been, be, being)
ex. appear, become, feel, grow, looking, remain, taste, seem, represent, resemble, smell, sound
Treat any linking verb as a parallel marker
What is a pronoun?
A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun, so that we do not have to repeat it elsewhere in the sentence
Pronoun errors are frequent in the GMAT
Third Person Personal Pronouns include: It, Its, They, Them, Their
What is an antecedant?
An antecedent is a noun that gives a pronoun meaning and must actually exist in the sentence as a noun
It must logically agree (test by replacing the pronoun with the noun or noun phrase)
It was agree in number (singular antededant must refer to a singular pronoun, same goes for plural)
Which one is correct?
Whenever a student calls, take down THEIR information.
Whenever a student calls, take down HIS OR HER information.
Correct: Whenever a student calls, take down HIS OR HER information.
What is a demonstrative pronoun?
Demonstrative pronouns can be used as adjectives in front of nouns (ex. This, That, These, Those)
“That” or “Those” can be used to indicate a “new copy” or copies of the antecedent; “It”, “They”, and other personal pronouns refer to the same antecedent
ex. THE MONEY spent by her parents is less than THAT spent by her children.
“That” or “Those” indicating a new copy or copies must also be modified to indicate how the new copy is different from the previous version (“less than” in the example above)
Any “new copy” from “that” or “those” must agree in number with the previous version; however, if we want to change then number then we repeat the noun
Which one is correct?
Her company is outperforming THOSE OF her competitors.
Her company is outperforming THE COMPANIES OF her competitors.
Correct: Her company is outperforming THE COMPANIES OF her competitors.
Demonstrative pronoun rules:
“That” or “Those” indicating a new copy or copies must also be modified to indicate how the new copy is different from the previous version (“less than” in the example above)
Any “new copy” from “that” or “those” must agree in number with the previous version; however, if we want to change then number then we repeat the noun
Which one is correct?
Her products are unusual; many consider THESE unique.
Her products are unusual; many consider THEM unique.
Correct: Her products are unusual; many consider THEM unique.
Demonstrative pronoun rules:
Do not use “this” or these” in place of nouns on the GMAT (“This is great” is unacceptably vague as a sentence on the GMAT)
Do not use “that” or “those” in place of nouns unless you modify “that” or “those” to make them “new copies” (use “it”, “they” or “them” instead)
What are the rules regarding pronoun ambiguity?
Every pronoun should clearly refer to one antecedent
Every “It” and Its” in a sentence should refer to the same singular antecedent
Every “Them”, “They” and “Their” must refer to the same plural antecedent
What is a case and how many are there in English?
A case is the grammatical role or function for nouns and pronouns. There are 3 cases in English.
1) Subject Pronouns: can be subjects of sentences
(I, you, he, she, it, we, they, who)
2) Object Pronouns: can the object of verbs and prepositions
(me, you, him, her, it, us, them, whom)
3) Possessive Pronouns: indicate ownership or a similar relation
(my / mine, your / yours, his, her / hers, its, our / ours, their / theirs, whose)
Nouns in the possessive case (with s’ or ‘s) are often poor antecedents (executives’ or executive’s compensation); however, we can generally correct such a sentence by taking the possessing noun out of the possessive case
Don’t apply this pronoun ambiguity unless backed into a corner and choosing between two identical answers expect on has a pronoun referring to a possessive noun and the other doesn’t
